https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/mary-shelley/frankenstein
Sharing another book that is free to download and own, depending on your local public domain laws. Enjoy!
"Mary Shelley (then Godwin) and Percy Bysshe Shelley were visiting their friend Lord Byron in Geneva one rainy summer. With the weather against them, they decided to spend their time writing ghost stories for each other. Frankenstein is Mary Shelley’s submission to their contest, later published anonymously in 1818.
One of the few books I’ve stayed up all night to finish the first time I read it in high school, definitely worth the read.
That’s says a lot about the quality of the book.
While it’s on my TBR, this is one of the books that I have never heard someone dislike. I think I want to wait until I have a physical copy to read it since it’s so well liked. I have a few books that I need to get through first so I still have some time to make up my mind.
This book is so much better than I ever expected, highly recommend.
I just have to chime in, as I also am so blown away by this book. It was so much more than I expected and gave me a an awful lot to think about, while simultaneously having a story which has so beautiful settings and keeps the readers interested. I read it two and a half years ago and the effect of this book lingers on.
I “reread” this a couple of years ago, only to discover I was reading it for the first time. Though the letter writing framing is a personal annoyance, the author drops out of that narrative style pretty quickly. Some other stuff may seem like tropes, but keep in mind that Shelley pioneered many of those tropes.
minor spoilers below.
The thing that stuck out to me was that the Monster was truly evil and didn’t deserve any sympathy. I know that contradicts the text of the book, but it’s true. The monster knows only pain and suffering, but it’s solution is to create another to suffer just as he has.
In the Ice cave scene, the monster specifically requests that his “bride” be made hideous so that she’d have no other option than companionship with the monster. The doctor doubts that the “bride” can be so easily controlled. These are the only times in the book where the “bride’s” agency is considered.
No, the monster isn’t a tragic hero, it’s a twisted incel who demands his government girlfriend.
